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Obama: $350b bailout needs to help people

President-elect Barack Obama wants more
transparency and strict guidelines for using the second $350
billion of the bailout fund Congress approved last fall to
stabilize the nation's financial system.

Obama's economic team has been talking with the Bush
administration about having Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson ask
Congress as early as this week for access to the $350 billion
remaining in the bailout fund. If Congress rejected such a request,
a presidential veto could still free up the money, unless Congress
overrode the veto.

The Congressional Oversight Panel raised detailed questions last
week about how banks are spending the first $350 billion, how the
money will combat the rising tide of home foreclosures and
Treasury's overall strategy for the rescue. In instance after
instance, the panel said, the Treasury Department did not offer
adequate responses.

In an interview aired Sunday, Obama declined to say whether he
wants President George W. Bush to request the rest of the money,
but he said he has asked his economic team to develop a set of
principles to ensure more openness about how the money is spent and
to focus on using it more to help homeowners and small businesses.

"Let's lay out very specifically some of the things that we are
going to do with the next $350 billion of money," Obama said on
ABC's "This Week." "And I think that we can regain the
confidence of both Congress and the American people that this is
not just money that is being given to banks without any strings
attached and nobody knows what happens, but rather that it is
targeted very specifically at getting credit flowing again to
businesses and families."

Among the things under consideration by Obama aides and
congressional Democrats are limiting executive pay at institutions
that receive the money and forcing such institutions to get rid of
any private aircraft they may own or lease.

"I think that when you look at how we have handled the home
foreclosure situation and whether we've done enough in terms of
helping families on the ground who may have lost their homes
because they lost their jobs or because they got sick, we haven't
done enough there," Obama said.

In the interview taped Saturday, Obama also conceded it will be
difficult to enforce his pledge to ban congressionally earmarked
projects from the nearly $800 billion economic stimulus plan he's
negotiating with Congress.

"In a package of this magnitude, will there end up being
certain projects that potentially don't meet that criteria of
helping on health care, energy or education? Certainly," he said.

But Obama said inaction carries too great a risk. "We can't
afford three, four, five, six more months where we're losing half a
million jobs per month. And the estimates are that if we don't do
anything, we could see 4 million jobs lost this year."

Vice President Dick Cheney said the administration's bailout
program has had "significant positive impact" by guaranteeing
liquidity in the financial system and adequate capital in the
banking system. Although such intervention goes against
conservative principles, Cheney said, the financial system is the
federal government's responsibility and is under threat from the
economic crisis.

"I would rather see a smaller government. But we've always
said, and I firmly believe, that you do make exceptions for budget
restraint. And those exceptions are wars, for example, national
crises," Cheney said in an interview aired Sunday on CNN's "Late
Edition."

"So there have been reasons why we've had to commit those funds
and run up the deficit. I'd rather it hadn't been necessary, but I
do think it was necessary, given the problems we're faced with,"
he said.

Obama, who has been receiving daily national security briefings
since his election in November, acknowledged that his campaign
pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay will be more of a
challenge than he anticipated. Many of those held at the military
site are suspected terrorists or potential witnesses in cases
against them.

"It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize -
and we are going to get it done - but part of the challenge that
you have is that you have a bunch of folks that have been detained,
many of whom who may be very dangerous who have not been put on
trial or have not gone through some adjudication," he said.

The president-elect said that while some evidence against
terrorism suspects may be tainted by the tactics used to obtain it,
that doesn't change the fact they are "people who are intent on
blowing us up."

Speaking in general terms, Obama said the country had made
progress in becoming safer since the Sept. 11 attacks, but dangers
persist. He said national security remains a concern, but added:
"We know exactly what they're planning, where they're positioned.
If you have a small group of people in today's world with today's
technology who are intent on doing harm and are willing to die,
that is something that's always going to be a challenge."

-Obama and wife Michelle are still visiting Washington-area
churches looking for a new place to worship. The Obamas resigned
from Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ after sermons from
the Rev. Jeremiah Wright caused an uproar for blaming the United
States for the Sept. 11 attacks.

-The Obamas are deciding between a labradoodle or a Portuguese
water hound puppy, in the search for an appropriate pet for their
daughters, ages 7 and 10. Obama said they're ready to start
visiting shelters.